WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
The Danida Alumni Prize is a newly inaugurated prize to be awarded annually to an alum who has made a significant contribution to positive change in his or her home country or professional field based on his or her studies in Denmark.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who was a Danida fellow in 1988 at the then Danish Bilharziasis Laboratory in Copenhagen, will be the very first Danida alum to receive the prize. The motivation to award Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus the Danida Alumni Prize is that he as Minister of Health from 2004-12, propelled unparalleled positive change in Ethiopia’s health system, including building up a strong community health workforce.
During Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ term as Minister of Health around 40,000 women were trained in the healthcare sector, an organized ambulance system and special centres for reproductive health were established, and the infant mortality rate in Ethiopia fell by 23 percent.
The Danida Fellowship Centre is established to manage short-term learning and capacity building courses and research projects that support Danish International Development Assistance activities. It is a self-governing institution under the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In 2016, the Danida Fellowship Centre launched the Danida Alumni Network. Since the 1960s, about 20,000 men and women from 120 countries in the Global South have been granted Danida fellowships to study in Denmark.
The Danish Minister for Development Cooperation, Ms Ulla Tørnæs, will present the award. The ceremony is part of Danida Fellowship Centre’s celebrations to mark their 25th anniversary in Frederiksberg.
